Blotter-bath



(No Model.)

B. B. HILL.

BLOTTER BATH. I

Patented Feb. 9, 1886.

JIll'llll 2 6%. ma W fw UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE.

BENJAMIN B. HILL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

BLOTTER-BATH.

.EPBCIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 335,585, dated February 9, 1886.

Serial No. 176,357. (X model To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN B. HILL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Blotter- Baths, of which the following is a specificat-ion, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, in Which Figure 1 represents a plan view of the simplest form of my invention; Fig. 2, a vertical section of the same through the line :0 m, Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a vertical section through the line 2 y, same figure, with the presser removed. Fig. 4 represents a plan of a bath to be used in another form of my invention. Fig. 5 represents a vertical section of the bath through the line 3 3/ in Fig. 3, with the bath set in a case or holder, which is also shown in section. Fig. 6 is the same slightly modified. Fig. 7 shows a bath set in ahollow platen of a copying-press; and Fig. 8 shows it set between the bed and stand of a press.

This invention relates to that class of blotterbaths shown in my Patent No. 216,738, and is an improvement thereon; and the invention relates to the peculiar combinations and the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter more particularly described and claimed.

I will first describe that form shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in which A represents a shallow box, preferably of sheet metal, and provided with a division, B, at each end, which is more clearly shown in Fig. 3, which division is provided with a series of fine perforations, I), along the bottom, and with an opening, b, for a purpose hereinafter described. These divisions form with the ends of the box or bath two wells or cells, in which water may be poured to moisten the sheets or pads C, which are placed on the top of a perforated sheet, D, in the usual manner. Above the sheets I place a cover or presser, E, in the center of which is a slight projection, e, to which is pivotally secured by a screw or rivet, F, a spring, G, whose opposite arms pass through slits a, formed on the sides of the bath.

The operation is as follows: The blotters are laid down upon a perforated sheet, D, of

between the end walls and the divisions B, some of which water passes through the perforations into the bath proper and along the under side of the perforated plate, from whence it is taken up by the lowest sheet or pad, which dampens the one above it, which in its turn also dampens the next above it, and so on through the entire series, until all are dampened. This is the ordinary process, so far as the dampening is concerned; but in my previous patent there is no perforated division-plate employed. After the sheets are in place I lay the top or presser E down upon them and turn the spring G until it occupies the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1, which securely holds the presser down upon the sheets, and causes them to lie in close contact with each other, and thus they become equally damp all through, or substantially so. Besides this, the close pressure of the presser on the sheets keeps the air from them, and thus they are kept damp much longer than they would be without this close pressure.

When it is desired to take out the pads for use, the spring G is turned on its center, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l, and then the presser can be readily removed and the pads taken out, which is much facilitated by the openings 1) in the division-plate B, which allows of the access of the fingers to the edges of the pads.

Instead of the springs being held down by a portion of the bath itself, I propose to press them down by means of a holder into which the bath is pushed after the sheets are supplied with the necessary water.

In this construction I provide the presser with one or more springs, G, which are secured to the top in any convenient manner, but preferably by headed pins or rivets passing through holes in the spring, one or more of which holes may be slotted to allow the end of the spring to slide slightly.

After the bath is supplied with the necessary pads and water and the presser is set on the sheets, the bath and all is pushed into a holder, which may consist of a boX, as H, having atop, a bottom, and three closed sides, but open on one side to admit the bath, and as the springs G G come in contact with the top of the box the presser is forced downward upon the pads or lotters. This box or holder may form the platen of a copying-press, as shown in Fig. 7, or it may be a separate box, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6; or in lieu of a box the press may be set upon two crosspieces of wood, I I, as shown in Fig. 8, above the stand, thus leaving a space for the bath between the press and the top of the stand, as shown; or instead of placing the bath above the stand it may be set in a casing below, as shown in dotted lines in the same figure.

In each of these cases the top springs, G G, bear against the part above them, and each of these devices thus constitutes a holder. I may sometimes set a roller in the top of each spring, as shown in Fig. 6.

The combination of a blotter-bath presscr and holder is also shown in my application filed of even date herewith and numbered 176,331, and no claim is therefore made to it, broadly, in this application.

I am aware of the Patent No. 121,233, which shows a sponge-cup provided with a circular substantially as described.

35 3. A blotter-bath and cover therefor, in

combination with a hollow platen of a copying-press forming a holder for the same, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, 40 in presence of two witnesses, this 5th day of September, 1885.

BENJAMIN B. HILL.

"Witnesses:

VVILLIAM S. TOLA'ND, T. J. W. ROBERTSON. 

